- Title: Protesters celebrate New Year's eve in central Beirut
- Date: 1st January 2020
- Summary: MORE OF PROTESTERS GATHERING CELEBRATING NEW YEAR'S EVE
- Embargoed: 15th January 2020 01:54
- Keywords: Beirut Lebanon celebration new year protests
- Location: BEIRUT, LEBANON
- City: BEIRUT, LEBANON
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Living / Lifestyle,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA002BUCC3EV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hundreds of Lebanese welcomed the arrival of the new year 2020 in central Beirut, a focal point of anti-government demonstrations since October, in a festival protest as the country faces difficult times.
With protests that sometimes turned violent, an unprecedented economic crisis and political uncertainty, protesters in central Beirut's Martyrs Square were happy to celebrate on the streets. They expressed their hope for "things to be changing" in 2020.
Nationwide protests erupted on October 17, 2019 in Lebanon against a political elite that ruled the country for decades.
Lebanon is suffering its worst economic crisis, rooted in decades of state corruption and waste, since the 1975-1990 civil war. The economic woes have sparked huge protests against the ruling elite, banks are imposing capital controls, pressure has piled on the pegged Lebanese pound, and a hard currency crunch has pushed importers to hike prices.
(Production: Issam Abdallah, Yara Abi Nader) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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